About The Geophysical Institute Permafrost Laboratory The Permafrost Laboratory deals with scientific questions related to circumpolar permafrost dynamics and feedbacks between permafrost and global change. At the Permafrost Laboratory, data related to the thermal and structural state of circumpolar permafrost is collected and analyzed. The focus of our research is development of methods to physically and mathematically model permafrost interactions with the climate system (permafrost modeling); study of naturally and human-induced disturbances of permafrost (permafrost process studies); detection of changes in permafrost temperature, thickness, and distribution over time (permafrost monitoring); and prediction of impacts of permafrost changes on the natural environment (e.g. ecosystems, hydrology, carbon cycle) as well as human-related concerns (e.g. infrastructure).
We are interested in all aspects of how permafrost is affected by global change with respect to climate as well as natural and human-induced disturbances. The Permafrost Lab was established in the 1960s by Professor Thomas E. Osterkamp at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The Group Our team consists of Professor of Geophysics Vladimir Romanovsky, Associate Professor Dr. Sergey S. Marchenko, Assistant Professor Dr. Dmitry Nicolsky, Research Associates Dr. Alexander Kholodov, Dr. Reginald Muskett and Dr. Santosh Panda; doctoral students Viacheslav V. Garayshin, Louise Farquharson, and Prajna Regmi Lindgren.
Research Professional Lily Cohen and Research Professional II Bill Cable (also a Masters Graduate Student at the University of Copenhagen - University of The Arctic) complements our group with their expertise. We closely collaborate with many other researchers and students at UAF. Our collaborations extend to the Department of Energy Laboratories and the Department of Interior USGS, The Alfred Wegener Institute, The World Meteorological Organization and the International Permafrost Association and many universities in Europe, Russia and China.

Wikipedia describes calibration as:

Calibration is the process of finding a relationship between
two quantities that are unknown (when the measurable quantities are not
given a particular value for the amount considered or found a standard
for the quantity). When one of quantity is known, which is made or set
with one device, another measurement is made as similar way as possible
with the first device using a second device.The measurable quantities
may differ in two devices which are equivalent. The device with the
known or assigned correctness is called the standard. The second device is the unit under test, test instrument, or any of several other names for the device being calibrated.

The formal definition of calibration by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures
is the following: "Operation that, under specified conditions, in a
first step, establishes a relation between the quantity values with
measurement uncertainties provided by measurement standards and
corresponding indications with associated measurement uncertainties (of
the calibrated instrument or secondary standard) and, in a second step,
uses this information to establish a relation for obtaining a
measurement result from an indication."^[1]